It gave the world a glimpse into Parcells’ old school thinking, which leads to smaller draft boards for the Dolphins’ former czar, and showed his approach to putting together a draft board.

This year’s special, which also features former Colts president Bill Polian, will air on night Tuesday. A teaser of the hour-long special reveals some of their 2012 draft board.

According to Parcells’ board Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill has a late first-round grade. He’s the third best quarterback in the draft, behind Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III.

Arizona State quarterback Brock Osweiler is the fourth best quarterback on his board, and Parcells has a late second-round grade on him. Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins also has a late second-round grade.

Parcells has Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden with a mid-third round grade, and he’s the final quarterback on the Draft Confidential board.

From the receiver standpoint, I found it VERY interesting that Notre Dame’s Michael Floyd and Georgia Tech’s Stephen Hill have late first-round grades, and Baylor’s Kendall Wright has a second-round grade.

The other receivers Parcells projects as worthy of a second-round pick are UM’s Tommy Streeter, who Parcells has as the draft’s fifth best receiver. South Carolina’s Alshon Jeffery, LSU’s Rueben Randle, Arizona’s Juron Criner and Oklahoma’s Ryan Broyles are the other receivers worthy of a second-round pick according to Parcells.

I’ve identified Randle and Criner as player who would fit what the Dolphins are looking for perfectly.

Keep in mind that not every player makes Parcells board for various reasons.

That’s why the only other receiver Parcells has on his draft board is Appalachian State’s Brian Quick, whom he has in the fifth round slot. So in the deepest receiver draft of this decade Parcells only has 14 wide outs in his board.

Alabama tailback Trent Richardson has a high first round grade, and the second tailback on Parcells’ board is UM’s Lamar Miller, whom he projects as an early second-round pick. Behind him is Virginia Tech’s David Wilson and Boise State’s Doug Martin.

At tight end Parcells’ board has Stanford’s Coby Fleener as a late-first round pick, and Clemson’s Dwayne Allen as a mid-to-late second round pick. Georgia’s Orson Charles has a third-round projection.

Louisiana-Lafayette’s Ladarius Green has a fourth-round grade, and Missouri’s Michael Egnew has a fifth-round projection. USC’s Rhett Ellison also has a fifth-round projection.

Parcells gives Ohio State’s Mike Adams and Illinois’ Jeff Allen second-round grades for the tackles. He projected Georgia’s Cordy Glenn as a guard, and gives him a second-round grade. Iowa State’s Kelechi Osemele also has a second-round grade, and is projected as a guard.

On defense North Carolina’s Quinton Coples has a very high first-round position, and Alabama’s Courtney Upshaw is the second best pass rusher on the Draft Confidential board.

Parcells has South Carolina’s Melvin Ingram and Illinois’ Whitney Mercilus as late first-round picks. USC’s Nick Perry, Marshall’s Vinny Curry, Syracuse’s Chandler Jones and Clemson’s Andre Branch all have second-round grades, and they are in his order.

If the Dolphins pass up the opportunity to take Coples with the No. 8 pick they’ll need to land one of these names.

Parcells has West Virginia’s Bruce Irvin with a third-round projection, and has his plugged in as an outside linebacker, probably in a 3-4 scheme.

Alabama’s Mark Barron is the only safety Parcells projects as a first-round pick, and he has him going early. Most draft expects projected Dallas will select Barron.

Notre Dame’s Harrison Smith and Montana’s Trumaine Johnson are in the second-round range for safeties. That’s right, Parcells projects that Johnson, a cornerback in college, will become a safety.

He projects Oklahoma State’s Markelle Martin with a third-round grade, and South Carolina’s Antonio Allen with a fourth-round grade. LSU’s Brandon Taylor and Boise State’s George Iloka have fifth-round projections.

Comments (77 Comments)

Parcells is a formula guy. He wants to “grade” each player MECHANICALLY against a formula. Many guys in days gone by use this same technique outside the realm of football for many different things and for many different reasons. Sometimes it is legitimate and other times it is a catastrophe…

Formulas have a flaw in that they take too much of the “judgment call” out of the hands of a perceptive individual and make the process of talent evaluation more science than art. In the Top Down approaches of the past this was a very common managerial tool. Today, in our flatter organizations, it isn’t being practiced the same way. In some cases there are good reasons for that. In others it doesn’t work out all that well.

There is no need to have a talent evaluation take place in a strictly “either science or emotion” scenario. That’s short-sighted in my view. Both science and art can coexist just fine in the mind of a perceptive being. One does not necessarily need to outweigh the other is ALL phases of an evaluation. And I think that is what happens to a guy like Weeden when where is he right now does not precisely fit into the “formula”.

People with good judgment will understand when the need for the formula is there and when the need for more of an intuitive approach is there. Both probably inform the decision as well as the other depending on who the evaluator is reviewing and for what reason.

Parcells is the product of a philosophy of evaluation that was popularized by the military and in corporate America after WWII. Both realms of evaluation, Corp America and the Military, have since begun to move on to more sophisticated methods, as the notion that one must evaluate a person as a mechanism that fits into a machine has become a bit antiquated.

I see this same reasoning when folks say “do you draft for need OR bpa?”.
Why can’t you do both?

If you can do both the science and the art in your “Formula”, and put ego aside, then have you not created a distinct advantage for yourself and your team? I think Bellichick and other guys in the league get that. If your formula is not flexible enough to allow emotion to sometimes win in the decision process then you are missing on a part of the evaluation that other people are going to take advantage of.

The problem is guys who are from a few decades ago had this mechanistic rationale drilled into them so deeply that they are stuck with it now. They either are unsure of using another method and “fear” letting emotion into the equation will cloud their judgment. But that is circular reasoning. Because if you already “fear” emotion in your decision process then you are already being emotional about that process. So, you should go with it sometimes too.

“irrelevant” is way too strong–the opinion of a HOF coach who won multiple Super Bowls (even some years ago) and remains close to the game, cant be irrelevant–his older school style may be a bit dated, and I know Parcells is not held in the highest regard in Dolphin land, but you could still learn plenty from the guy–as a matter of fact, his names/rankings in this article are not too different from many of the well-known rankings–a little, but the names are very similar.

If winning 2 Superbowl’s over 20 years ago is enough to satisfy the terminology “Multiple” for you… Fine … But I would suggest you say he won a couple Superbowl’s many years ago…….

I would also take a look at Parcells record in the Modern NFL with Free Agency (starting in 1992)… Bill Parcells won his first SB with the G-men in 1986 and his second SB with the G-men in 1990…. Since then he has coached for New England, The Jests, Dallas and Miami.

One could argue that what he did for those teams was negligible at best, Particularly Dallas and Miami. Only in NE did Parcells have real success, mainly because New England was an AWFUL team from the 1988 through 1994 seasons. They picked in the top ten (Just like Detroit) to the point the team finally got better.

Dallas IMO was left in a similar Rock and Hard place as Miami… They were built too big, too slow, and never really answered the QB issue. Romo is good… but FAR from Brady, Rogers, Manning, Favre (he was a contemporary of Romo) or Breese. And just like Miami… there was a coaching mess to clean out and a player dysfunction to solve.

No….. Parcells is a master of another era… The TRUE masters grow and change with the league… (See Don Shula & Bill Belechick) … I have to admit that I was drawn in by Parcells “Build um big and Build um tough” idea’s… I was drawn in right up to the point when teams were running all over the place and Miami seemed to be moving in reverse. Speed is the true leveler in the NFL…. A 8-8 Team can add 4 or 5 speed players and improve to 11-5 in one season.

Yes but how does parcells consider his time starting at WR and sitting in all the QB meetings?

I’d argue the kid has an even more well rounded view of the offense having seen it from both sides and excelling at both spots.

I’m a little weary of those who want to cite Tannehill’s lack of experience at QB without giving due credit for his quality time put in at WR. He wasn’t MIA those years, he was slaying it on the OTHER end of passes. Now he’s proven he can do it from the QB side, and he’s got big time professional tools to work with. The upside on this kid is huge.

I somewhat disagree with you on how Parcells evaluates players. I think a lot of his grades are right on. What I like about his grades are that he doesn’t inflate a player’s value very much. He puts guys where they belong…not where the hype has placed them.

Now, you can say that approach is antiquated b/c this business has become about a guy jumping 2 rounds just b/c he had a solid combine. That didn’t happen 20 years ago…players were evaluated on their on-field performance for the most part.

I disagree with Parcells on any number of things, but I do appreciate his level-headedness when it comes to grading players.

agree–regardless of his very subjective “grade” (whatever that really means), all of these pundits grade the guy high to very high……8th, 14th, 21st or late 27th…..a QB rated at any of these spots could/should be pretty good. This is far from an exact science after all.

Hey, one more thing and I gotta run. My local sports radio show was hyping the WR Childs this morning saying he was a guy who had top end talent that you might be able to get in the 4th round…and saying alot of people didn’t know about him b/c of the injury and his “poor” season.

I almost had to call and let them know that he wasn’t unknown to everyone…especially you!

The game has gotten more complicated the last 10 years which affects the QB even more. I think the Wonderlic scores are more important than before. I would not want to draft a QB with a score less than 26 today unless they had a very quick release and/or great feet. Marino actually had both of these and probably with a bit of practice would have scored far higher on his wonderlic.

Parcells is a dinosaur his opinions are irrevelant. How did Pat White fit his formula? He hasn’t done anything of note in 20 years but lay waste and break promises while acting like an arrogant jerk wherever he went.

The article is on Dec 13 SS colume by Omar. Omar stated “my research allows me to give a pass to Ireland on White since he was the person who fought his selection the most. But not Henne”. You google Pat White + Omar Kelly + Jeff Ireland + draft to see it. Be my guest.

Parcells did a t.v. interviw about 6 months after he left the Fins. He was asked about Pat White and why they drafted him. Parcells said it was a mistake. The reason they drafted him was the use of the offense using him in heir “wishbone offense” (can’t remember the actual name they used for ti, but you get the idea) and they got carried away with it. He took reesponsibility for the mistake

The Giants have taken a Defensive End or Defensive Back with their 1st round pick in 5 of the last 6 drafts. Why is it bad if Miami drafts another OL, we are so close to making that unit strong. We keep including Vernon, he was drafted 8 years ago. We are changing our run blocking scheme, we need the proper lineman. Draft them early and be done with it. Stop gap journeymen Incognito’s are not cutting it. Other then the franchise QB, the one consitency all the elite teams have is solid Offensive line play and continuity. Their O-lines grow and stay together. Not mismached together. 2 lineman within the first 4 picks please.

I will ignore ALL Parcels offensive grades….tell me the last elite offensive player Parcells drafted. Thanks. He hasn’t had one. Period. If you say Jake Long you are kidding yourself.

I DO pay close attention to Parcels DEFENSIVE grades. He showed in Miami he can spot good defenders and last year he had Ryan Kerrigan highly regarded when most were sleeping on him and the kid proved to be a stud in Wash: 63 tacks, 7.5 sacks, 4 FF, 1int(for a td to a win a game vs NYG). So if Parcels says Couples is a beast, I am listening and I think Ireland has a similar grade, if not the exact same grade.

Parcells’ board is relevant only because of who serves as our GM. Presumably, there are some differences between Ireland and Parcells, but probably not a whole lot. The main difference is that Ireland is working for a team (and to keep his job) and Parcells is working for himself (as usual). As a result, Ireland certainly must feel some pressure to draft a QB, likely higher than where that person would go otherwise.

THE ARE MANY FANS THAT BLAME YOU FOR THE FAILURE OF THE TEAM SINCE YOU LEFT THE FINS. HOWEVER, THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND THAT YOU LEFT BECAUSE MR. ROSS, KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT RUNNING AN NFL TEAM. HIS DIRECTION WAS MAKE THIS A “PLACE OF THE STARS” SOLD OFF PART OF WONERSHIP TO THE RICH AND FAMOUS, THEN PUT A NIGHTCLUB IN THE VENUE. YOU SAW THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL AND LEFT. IRELAND, WAS ACTUALLY YOU RIGHT HAND MAN AND WAS NOT READY TO TAKE OVER AS A REAL G.M. HAD YOU STAYED WE WOULD NOT BE THE JOKE OF THE NFL TODAY. YOUR RESPECTED IN THE NFL CIRCLES AS DISPLAYED BY N.O. SAINTS CALL TO YOU AFTER THE SUSPENSION OF HE H.C. AND OTHERS. WE MISS YOU AND MOST FANS DON’T UNDERSTAND. MR. ROSS IS JOKE OWNER. POLULAR OR NOT, THIS OPINION WILL NOT BE POPULAR TO MOST FANS THAT LOVE TO HATE. THAT STEMS OUT OF FRUSTRATION AS THE FINS BEING A CONSTANT LOSER. WE MISS YOU EVEN IF WE MOST CAN NOT SEE THIS POINT OF VIEW.

Not a single miami dolphins fan who isn’t retarded misses parcells! Geez! He’s a washed up has been who the game has passed by. and he NEVER was a personnel guy, he was a pretty good coach BUT NEVER a personnel guy.

Parcell’s said himself on ESPN’s (Sunday Conversation) a few years ago that P White was his pick and poeple in his draft room were against the pick but he ignored his size and weight requirements and drafted him anyway because he got caught up in the wildcat offense

If Parcels says Couples will be a beast, I BELIEVE him. He KNOWS defenders and pass rushers specifically. I could care less about his offensive grades. He couldn’t find a stud on the offensive side of the ball in Dallas or Miami through the draft.

True to his stated matrix he values power and strength over speed and quickness. Thats why he has a player like F Cox or M Ingram lower than many others. The major asset of both of those players is their quicks which dont mean as much to Parcells,

- Trade back in first round to mid teens and pick up another second round pick (Philadelphia seems like perfect trade partner at 15 as they move up to ensure Fletcher Cox).

- With first round mid teens pick draft best player on board whether that is DeCastro, Floyd, Coples, Ingram or whoever the Dolphins have highest on their board.

- Trade second 2nd round pick (acquired in earlier trade) along with one of the third round picks to move back up into the late first round (pick 28 or so) to draft BRANDON WEEDEN.

- With second round pick (#42) draft Reuben Randle if we happen to draft a pass rusher in first round or best pass rusher available (Shea McClellin, Chandler Jones) if we happen to draft Floyd in first round.

- With remaining third round pick draft best player available at WR, OL, or DE/OLB.

I don’t think there is a better scenario available for the Dolphins. Let’s get it done!

By the way, all of my trades makes sense according to NFL draft trade value chart. This would be a perfect draft my man. Also, in the 5th or 6th round I would like them to draft Ryan Broyles, WR, Oklahoma.

Wonderlic means nothing just like a players GPA. A player needs to be a student of the game of football not a rocket scientist. I would rather have a Cam Newton or A Rodgers than a R Fitzpatrick or Jason Garrett. You can be a horrible student but know everything about football, that is all that matters

Brandon,
All that trading around to take a rookie(Parcells rates lower than Ozweiler) that is older than our seasoned veterans to come in and what, sit a year or two? It’ll be time for him to think about cashing in his 401k!
IMO, if Tanney is there at 8 they take him. He is a quality prospect(assuming the coaches also believe it)….If not, Coples. Take a high quality prospect here, without moving down. If our team is getting better, we have a favorable schedule this year, we won’t have anything higher/better than 15th pick next year without trading up. Have to at least gain the benefit of being bad last year!
Biggest needs:
QB, pass rusher, WR, TE, OL, S

It makes no sense to draft Coples with our first pick. He will not beat out Wake or Odrick for the starting DE spot since both are potential pro bowlers and you do not take a guy that high so he can come in on mostly 3rd down as a pass rusher.

You do not take Ingram that high since he is not a great pass rusher and has short arms and other negatives that make it harder for college kids to turn into dominant pass rushers. He will be a solid OLB but not a qb hunter which is what we need

You do not go WR that high and this is the deepest wr class maybe ever.

Barron will be a good safety but not worth the 8th overall pick.

It comes down to Tanny only if Sherman believes in him enough to put his coaching future in his hands If not him I would have to say DeCastro or a likely trade down since we need an impact player (pass rusher).

Since we have 2 very good starting DE’s and need a pass rusher who can get to the qb on 3rd down and obvious passing downs the logical choice is B Irvin in the 2nd the best pass rusher in the draft which is what we need not a guy to replace Wake or Odrick who are very good players

Yes but how does parcells consider his time starting at WR and sitting in all the QB meetings?

I’d argue the kid has an even more well rounded view of the offense having seen it from both sides and excelling at both spots.

I’m a little weary of those who want to cite Tannehill’s lack of experience at QB without giving due credit for his quality time put in at WR. He wasn’t MIA those years, he was slaying it on the OTHER end of passes. Now he’s proven he can do it from the QB side, and he’s got big time professional tools to work with. The upside on this kid is huge

I don’t think his time put in at WR will make him a better QB. I hear what you mean, but many players have played at other positions in their careers. It doesn’t necessarily make them better (takes time away from mastery), but on paper, it makes sense.

“It comes down to Tanny only if Sherman believes in him enough to put his coaching future in his hands If not him I would have to say DeCastro or a likely trade down since we need an impact player (pass rusher). ”

I followed you up until this statement. You had already written off two pass rushers and made a compelling arguement that Odrick and Wake are going to be tough to get off the field.

I think Ireland (and most NFL personnel guys) always considers pass rushers if they’re available, but I, like you, I think….see it coming down to Tannehill, DeCastro, or trading back. Maybe even trading back and getting DeCastro, though I doubt he’ll last much later then the 10th-12th pick.

If Barkley and Jones do not decide to return to school Tanny isn’t even a 1st rd pick. He throws too many picks, loses accuracy on the deep ball, threw lots of wr screens and bubble screens to help his numbers but do not translate to the NFL, and doesn’t have enough game experience at qb for a high 1st rd pick. I draft this guy ONLY if Sherman is completely sold on him becoming a star qb he just has too many question marks for a top 8 pick. (actually I can’t recall a qb ever going in the top 8 with less experience at the position and this many ?’s about his game)

I can see him becoming a solid qb in a few years and a future star if everything goes right but I can also see him being a complete bust of a pick because of the many legit question marks about his game. Sherman would have to be completely sold on him

I think the “screen pass pads his stats” argument is tired. You said this about Flynns 6TD game too.

Now you’re saying that skill doesn’t project at the NFL level? Screen passes are very very common in the offense we’ll be running. That’s the whole idea, they’re high percentage and help establish a ball control passing game.

I’m not saying Tannehill doesn’t have question marks, I’m just saying that it’s tired to keep pooh-pooh-ing screen passes as though they don’t count or something.

“I don’t think his time put in at WR will make him a better QB. I hear what you mean, but many players have played at other positions in their careers. It doesn’t necessarily make them better (takes time away from mastery), but on paper, it makes sense.”

Having played WR and knowing how on page I had to be w/ the QB and how many QB meetings I sat in on, I’d say that the specific relationship between WR and QB is one of the few places you can get this knowledge overlap. The only other that I can think of is maybe TE or RB with the OL. If a guy played TE his whole career (blocking) but projected well as a tackle or guard, I’d say his time in at TE most certainly does help him become a better OL.

I’m not sold on any edge rushers in this draft. I like a lot of them, but none of them scream 10 sacks in the NFL. I’m also not sure that any of them we draft after the 1st round will be anything more than situational passrushers. Lots of them like Bruce Irvin have some ability to get around the edge, but they are below average at everything else asked of a WOLB.

Also, do you really think Wake will be as productive as a 4-3 DE? I’m not so sure. I know he lines up there for us already when we go to a 4 man front, but he almost always goes out wider than a traditional 4-3 strongside player. I’m not sure his game is all that well-rounded yet. He creates some big running lanes b/c he’s not disciplined all the time.

I still like Ronnell Lewis as possibly one of the most sound LBs in this draft. He’s not flashy but he gets his job done consistently. The kid can play inside and outside. Solid player who I’m hoping drops into the 3rd round if we’re lucky.

Jahn,
I think I was proven right about Flynn since we did not consider him a franchise qb and he was signed in Seattle but only to compete with T Jackson. Also I know that screen passes are successful in the NFL but not the same screens that college qb’s throw. They take the snap and sling the ball out to a wr who runs for 15 yds since the corners rarely play press coverage. The bubble screens and wr screens do not translate to the NFL.

Randy,
A situational pass rusher is exactly what we need. I personally like Irvin, Curry and Branch. I see Odrick and Wake as very good starters and see Coples as a waist because we are set at DE and would only use him on 3rd down.

As for Wake I had the exact same doubts about him before last year. This season Wake’s sack numbers went down but he turned into a very good overall player. We were great stopping the run last year and bring almost everyone back from that front 7. I feel Wake proved he is an all around LB/DE and all he needs is help rushing the qb on the other side

The thing I don’t like about having to use a situational pass rusher is that it limits your roster options. But, the roster is expanded this year…so that helps somewhat. I still prefer a guy who can do everything well.

but, then again, sub packages are the way of the NFL anymore.

I don’t think Wake was all that sound against the run. I thought Langford was really good against the run last year, and everybody seems to have forgotten that. He took a lot of heat off Wake. Bell also came up and supported for him a fair amount. Wake still doesn’t rush under control and doesn’t cut back underneath all that well. He gets to wide and too high for my taste, and it costs us. I would agree he definitely improved last year though…hopefully he’ll continue to improve.

I forgot. I think Coples is going to surprise people. I don’t think he’s nearly the slacker that people have been saying he is. He was asked to move around and do a lot of stuff. I think it hurt his production but willl ultimately help his long term growth as a player. I can definitely see why people are worried about him, but he’s a special athlete.

I think he’s a better prospect at DE than Wake or Odrick. Now, whether or not he fulfills that potential is a whole other question, obviously.

I side with proven experts on most discussion, especially with proven track records, and Parcells has a proven track record for finding elite defenders. Him backing Couples SHOULD mean something to you. Look at his track record for defenders. Pretty impressive. Defense picks ONLY. Still impressive talent evaluator of defenders. Ireland was taught the same method so I assume he has Couples rated as a BEAST as well.

Also it seems Parcells has Couples rated as a better prospect than DeCastro. He wasn’t very good at judging OL so take that with a grain of salt, but that he has Couples rated as the highest pass rusher means he will be good, if not great.

I disagree with this statement and agree with Jahndoh, in Philbin/Shermans system I believe it will help but we know it doesn’t guarantee success. That overlap of knowledge is all over the place and beneficial mostly to the QBs’ of the Offense and Defense.

Know of a specific situation where a SS converted to LB after an injury and made a huge impact- player was so familiar and good with coverages they allowed him to call/coordinate all the adjustments in game, and therefore was able to best coordinate rush, blitz and coverage assignments based on the Os package and personnel after the O lined up. That LB has done very well at the next level

If the transfer of knowledge between the positions wasn’t important then they wouldn’t bother having the positions in the same meetings. What I think is more beneficial is that in this case he played WR in the same O as he did QB (which were both Shermans, which is an added benefit).

In almost any workplace, you work better as a team if you’ve performed the job of the one you are working with.

I have always believed that big plays make more big plays. What the Dolphins really lacked last year was confidence from big plays. As a team the Phins are not that far away. We needed more big plays. We had some a couple of years ago with PEEZY and his 17 sacks. He changed the game for the team and allowed the offense to make a few mistakes.

And if Brady is on the other side of the ball, I think we need to find ways to knock him around and upset his timing. Stop him from making big plays. He is in our division and winning right now goes through New England. Tannehill may have the attributes but he is 3 years away. Moore’s stats placed him at 12th in the league. That ain’t bad. And that is with a couple of turnstiles on the right side of the line.

If Weeden is available, draft Weeden. He beat all the big names last year. He has game.

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About the author

OMAR KELLY was unsuccessful at achieving his childhood dream to become a super hero, so he figured he'd do the next best thing and become a journalist who fights against injustice, and searches for truth. After being bored to death reporting news and covering politics, he switched to sports.
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IZZY GOULD joined the Sun Sentinel in Feb. 2012 as a Senior Sports Reporter on the Miami Dolphins beat. He came to South Florida fresh off covering the University of Alabama football program, including its 2011 national championship team. More